PierToPeerCoaching

More Acro Yoga...pushing limits!

On Saturday I took my first (regular) Acro Yoga class with Jaqui Wan in London - yes I'm going to travel all the way to Canary Wharf each Saturday for an hour and a half class...and I joined the Reebok Sports Club for the privilege (not a hardship with the beautiful swimming pool overlooking the O2 building and the plushest changing facilities in history!)

You may remember I wrote about taking a workshop with Jaqui in Brighton back in April, and I've been deliberating whether or not to make the weekly trip to London to join a regular class ever since.  Not only was it the friendliest class I've taken since my acrobatic days at the City Lit in the 80's (there's a theme emerging here about "community"), but I got to challenge myself beyond any perceived limits.  I even ended up being the "flyer" (that's the person on top) doing the twisting balance in the picture above!

I have a feeling that this new hobby is going to influence my life as a whole - especially as I'm going through some interesting changes with one of my businesses right now.  Having the opportunity to take risks physically I'm sure will inform how I meet these new work challenges.  Besides, I'd forgotten (while taking myself so seriously of late) how to connect with my playful, curious side!

Watch this space...

AcroYoga...the fun of flying!

Recently I took part in a three hour AcroYoga workshop in Brighton...something I'd been looking forward to since the beginning of the year when I saw the ad.

I haven't done a yoga class in a while (preferring my own "lazy" version of 20 minutes max practice at home in my pjs) so a succession of fast asanas was quite a stretch and I wondered if it was a bit beyond me after an hour!

As soon as we got to "inversions" (that's being upside down to you and me) I felt quite at home.  Having done gymnastics at school, acrobatics, contemporary dance and static trapeze at various points in time over the last 25 years and still maintaining flexibility, I loved it!

AcroYoga was developed in Northern California by Jenny Sauer-Klein and Jason Nemer, and is a mixture of Yoga, Acrobatics and Thai Massage.  It is now taught internationally and for me, this sums up why I like it so much:

"Through practicing AcroYoga, we experience a deepening trust in ourselves and others, and realize that by working in partnership, we manifest more than we ever could alone".

There's another workshop in Brighton in July (the teacher, Jacqui, is one of a group who teach classes almost every day in London).  Hmmm, shall I wait until then or make the trip up to the Reebok Club in Canary Wharf every Saturday?

Pictures from the AcroYoga website (thank you!)